MONTPELIER — As medical dispensaries dwindle but retailers receive medical use endorsements, a data point sticks out. 

“The number of medical patients continues to grow,” Olga Fitch, executive director of the Cannabis Control Board, said at the Dec. 17 board meeting. 

About 3,043 patients were registered for the program at the time of the meeting, according to a slide show presentation. More than 40 patients were added to the count since the November board meeting, Fitch said.

Looking at data starting in 2011, Fitch said the medical program peaked around 2018 with 5,300 patients. She noted November 2023 is the last time, before now, that the state recorded more than 3,000 patients. 

Vermont now has 20 retailers with medical use endorsements. They’re in Bennington, Brattleboro, Manchester Center, Middlebury, Montpelier, Rutland, St. Johnsbury, South Hero, Bethel, Brandon, Burlington, Essex, Essex Junction, Johnson, White River Junction, Winooski and Woodstock. Five of them received the endorsement in December. 

A law passed this year by the Vermont Legislature established the program, which allows approved retailers the opportunity to sell higher potency products and offer curbside, delivery and drive-thru services to patients. Registered medical cannabis patients in Vermont are also exempt from paying the state’s cannabis excise tax and the standard sales tax. 

The first Enhanced Budtender Education course was held during the first week of December, a CCB newsletter stated, “paving the way for medical cannabis sales at medical-use-endorsed retailers.”

The CCB thanked “the budtenders and licensees who took the time to register, attend, and successfully complete the multi-hour course.”

“We are excited to roll out better access for patients and caregivers in the Medical Cannabis Program,” the CCB said.

At least one employee at an endorsed retailer is required to go through enhanced budtender training, which is offered through a contract with Cannify. To qualify, retailers must be in good standing for six months, with a clean compliance record and up-to-date tax payments.

Volunteers from across the region gathered at the Canadian Club in Barre to pack 30,000 meals for families facing food insecurity, according to a community announcement.

The Jan. 10 event, organized by Vermont Lions Clubs, brought together club members and volunteers to assemble meals for local food shelves and community partners, according to the announcement.

The project has been running in Vermont for nine years, starting with 10,000 meals in 2017.

Carol Greene, organizer for Vermont Lions, said the project reflects a longstanding commitment to hunger relief from the organization.

Volunteers worked in assembly-line fashion, scooping, weighing, sealing and boxing meals. Teams cheered each other on and paused to recognize milestones.

The event included volunteers from Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut, who came to learn how to bring the meal-pack program to their own communities.

“This is what Lions do best: serve together and multiply impact,” according to the announcement.

This story was created by reporter Beth McDermott, bmcdermott1@usatodayco.com, with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.

Theo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.

Vermont has received a nearly $13 million federal grant to strengthen its child care and pre-Kindergarten programs, among other early childhood services, officials said Monday.

The grant comes from the Preschool Development Grant Birth Through Five program in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which has supported parts of Vermont’s early childhood landscape for a decade, advocates said. This year’s award is the largest one-time amount the state has received.